Page 1454 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
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There were other comments made by Mrs Dunne. She made reference to pricing. She has priced a centre recently built by, I think, Northside Community Service at Harrison. She compares that in very simple terms. She clearly has a cost. She has been given a cost of the construction at the site of Harrison. She has looked at the budget allocation, she has done some simple numbers by division and she has come up with a price. There is no understanding about what is actually included in that price. Did the original price include design work and environmental preparation work? It is like comparing apples and oranges. Mrs Dunne knows that, but she is quite happy to come in and give blunt calculations and misinformation about—
Mrs Dunne: On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker.
MS BURCH: Can you stop the clock, please?
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Stop the clock, please.
Mrs Dunne: This is the second time the minister has said that I have come in here and given misinformation. The first time she said I deliberately gave misinformation. You asked her to withdraw before and I would ask you to ask her to withdraw again.
MADAM DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mrs Dunne, I do not think that what Ms Burch has just said is a clear indication that you have misled. I think she is debating a point. She is just indicating that she believes the information you have given is misleading. That, I think, is a debating point and I think Ms Burch can continue.
MS BURCH: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was just making the point that if someone comes in with a very blunt mathematical application of figures then they should be able to provide the depth and the analysis that sits underneath that. In some ways we agree that the children’s services environment and the sector here in Canberra benefit from private and non-private services alike, where choice is offered to parents and families and different providers seek to have different models of care. There are excellent community providers and there are excellent private providers. As I have just outlined, we are supportive of both.
Mrs Dunne seeks to upturn a decision that has long been made. The DA application has closed. There was just one comment received. I understand it is for determination by early April. So by mid-April we will understand that. Mrs Dunne has also made comment about the site at Holder and a battleaxe block. A battleaxe block was looking to be purchased or provided to Communities@Work. They saw that as a great opportunity and they showed great interest in that. I had a conversation recently with Communities@Work. I have seen the plans and I understand the conversation. If Communities@Work choose not to be party to a shared car parking space, that is their decision. If at the end of the day they are going to put a stake in the ground and say, “We do not want to enter into those arrangements; we share car parking facilities on the entry point to the battleaxe block,” that is for that board to determine.
I have not heard the final determination or the final decision from the chief executive of Communities@Work. If they choose to do that, we will simply put the parking on
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